Invalid-bed bottom



(No Model.)

B. R. RAND 8: H. N. WAYNE.

INVALID BED BOTTOM.

No. 595.734. Patented'Dec. 21,1897.

Frg. 1.

UNITED STATES PATENT Prion.

EDWIN R. RAND AND HERBERT N. WAYNE, OF XVABAN, MASSACHUSETTS.

INVALID-BED BOTTOM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 595,734, dated December21, 1897.

Application filed April 2, 1896.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWIN R. RAND and HERBERT N. WAYNE, of Waban, inthe county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Invalid-Bed Bottoms, of which thefollowing is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enablethose skilled in the art to which it appertains or with which it is mostnearly connected to make and use the same.

This invention has relation generally to bed-bottoms designed for use byinvalids or wounded persons or persons obliged from any cause to liedown or recline while under medical or surgical treatment, and theimprovements have reference particularly to that class of invalid-bedbottoms upon which the patient is required to lie without changing hisor her position, or at any rate not to change position through any ofthe patients own muscular exertion.

It is the object of the invention to provide such improvements ininvalid-bed bottoms as will enable a part or parts or sections of thesame to be so manipulated or operated as to relieve the patient ofweariness and discomforts resulting from lying continuously in oneposition, not only without requiring the patient to make any muscular orother exertion or even go so far as to exercisethe faculties of the willto gain relief from weariness, but also without liability of disturbingthe bed or bedclothing to a degree that will detrimentally ordisagreeably affect the senses of the most nervous or oversensitivepatient, and also to facilitate the work of physicians and surgeons whomay have patients under treatment, which patients are required to beplaced and kept continuously in a single reclining position and whocannot bear the least appreciable jar to the bed or disturbance of thebedclothing without pain or harm.

The invention consists of improvements having reference to the foregoingends, all as will be' hereinafter described in detail, and pointed outwith particularity in the appended claims. v

Reference is to be had to the annexed drawings, and to the lettersmarked thereon, forming a part of this specification, the same let-Serial No. 585,968. (No model.)

ters designating the same parts or features, as the case may be,wherever they occur.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of one form of a section of theimproved bedbottom in deflated condition. Fig. 2 is a side or edge viewof what is shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the sectionrepresented in Fig. 1, but showing it as inflated. Fig. 4 is a side oredge view of what is shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a side view of theimproved invalid-bed bottom, representing a patient as resting thereonin order to the better show the mode of using the improvements. Fig. 6is a plan view, and Fig. 7 an edge or side view, of a modified form ofan independent section entering into the invention.

In the drawings, a designates a bedstead, which may be of usual form orof any other suitable to subserve the purposes of a support for theimprovements.

1) is a mattress or similar base, which it may or may not be desirableto employ. Pillows, foot-rests, or other accessories of a bed may alsobe used in conjunction with the invention, if wished for or if requiredby the patients condition.

0 designates a series of air-tight or inflatable sections or tubes ofany desired form in cross-section, which sections are adapted to beplaced side by side and form substantially the immediate support for thepatients body, it being understood that a sheet or blanket or the like,if need be, may be spread over the sections and intervene between thepatients body and the said inflatable sections, and it being furtherunderstood that a single inflatable section may be employed in lieu ofthe series herein shown. Experience has demonstrated that the saidindependent section or sections may be in most cases best employed bydisposing them across the bed from side to side, as is shown in thedrawings. The said sections a, as before stated, are substantiallyair-tight, and may be made of an independent inner air-tube of purerubber and covered with a jacket or sheath of flannel or woolen clothcoated with rubber and understood by those skilled in the art withoutfurther description or illustration, the outer covering may be removedand washed when required.

Each section 0 is essentially provided at one end, or at any othersuitable point, with a communicating flexible tube d, equipped with anipple and valve similar to that with which the usual pneumatic tire ofa velocipede is provided, so that the tube or section 0 can be inflatedwith air through the said tube, as is shown in Figs. 3 and 4, or bedeflated by allowing the air to escape from the tubes or sections, as isshown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The cushion, section, orsections c, as shown in the drawings, arearranged side by side across the mattress b of the bed, and the tubes(Z, for convenience sake, extend from one side of the bed-bottom so madeup. The said tubes (1 may be made of such length that they may begrouped at or near the head of the bed, so that, if possible, thepatient can'himself or herself inflate or deflate particular sections orcushions to suit circumstances or convenience. At the right in Fig. 5 itis clearly shown how this may be done.

The form ofthe cushions, so long as they are provided with the tubes (1,constructed as set forth, may be varied in the make-up of diiferentbed-bottoms or in the same bed-bottom to suit circumstances. Forexample, in cases of accouchement or where it may be desirable to employa bed-pan a half-round space e may be left in the side of each of twosections, so that when the two are brought together a round, orsubstantially round,space or opening may be left in the bed-bottom,forming a construction in which the hips of the patient may rest uponthe sides of the space thus formed, leaving entire freedom in the saidspace for operation upon the patient.

In use the independent cushions or sections 0 will be arranged side byside, as shown, to form a complete bed-bottom or so much of the entirebottom as it may be necessary to construct in accordance with theinvention, and the said cushions or sections will be inflated ordeflated through the extended tubes d to a degree to suit circumstances,or, after the patient has become convalescent, the sec tions or cushionsmay be removed as required until only one shall be in use where supportor pressure is still required, which will probably be found useful insupporting the small of the back after the other parts of the body haveregained substantially wonted strength.

In case it should be desired to gain access to the surface of a patientsbody in contact with the bed-bottom, certain sections or cushions mayhave the air exhausted therefrom, so as to be entirely deflated, asshown at ff in Fig. 5, in which instance the physician or. attendant cangain access to the surface of parts so as to treat bed-sores, bathe thebody, or do other necessary or desirable things.

As has hereinbefore been intimated, the cushions or sections d (whichextend to a contions and extend up between said ends andthe side railand beneath the bed-coverings, and the operation of inflating anddeflating the sections may be effected without in the.

least degree affecting the patient in a harmful Way or in an annoyingmanner. If the inflating means were attached immediately to the cushionsor sections 0, as has been pro- The tubes d may, for in-,

posed heretofore, it would not be feasible to employ them in the ends ofthe said sections where the latter are used in beds having high siderails, and, moreover, they could not be employed at any point in thesections without rendering it necessary to materially disturb thebedclothing and undertaking the liability of jarring the bed in order tosecure inflation and deflation. Again, as before stated, through themedium of the individual sections and the individual inflating-tubesextending therefrom, some patients may be put in control of thebed-bottom so as to themselves regulate it to suit their pleasurewithout distressing muscular exertion, a thing that cannot beaccomplished Where the inflating means are connected directly with thecushions.

Having thus explained the nature of the invention and described a Way ofconstructing and using the same, though without attempting to set forthall of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes of its use,it is declared that what is claimed is- 1. An invalid-bed bottomcomposed of individual air-inflatable cushions or sections, 0, extendedacross the bed from side to side, each of the said cushions or sectionsbeing provided with a small flexible inflating and deflating tube, cl,extending from each section to an appreciable distance beyond the bedproper, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. An invalid-bed bottom composed of individual air-inflatable cushionsor sections, 0, extended across the bed from side to side, each of thesaid cushions or sections being provided with a small flexible inflatingand deflating tube, 61, connected with its ends, and extending from eachsection to an appreciable distance beyond the bed proper, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

3. An invalid-bed bottom composed of individual air-inflatable cushionsor sections, 0, extended across the bed from side to side, each of saidcushions being provided with inflating and deflating means, asdescribed, and certain of said cushions having half-round spaces orindentations in their meeting or opposing sides zindat opposingpoints,whereby, two subscribing witnesses, this 28th day of when the twosections are brought or laid to- March, A. D. 1896.

gcther, a substantially round opening in the EDWIN R.- RAND; bed-bottomwill be formed, all as and for the HERBERT N. WAYNE. 5 purposes setforth. WVitnesses: I In testimony whereof we have signed our ARTHUR WV.OROSSLEY,

names to this specification, in the presence of PERCY O. HOWE.

